About

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale - A Board Game for 1-5 Players

$79,953

pledged of $40,000 goal

2,360

backers

During the Dragul Invasion of Nalos, King Taron’s loyal soldiers throw captured minions into Kulbak Prison, where enchanted gates and Construct guards make escape all but impossible. Once each year, Taron releases the toughest gang of war prisoners into the royal Colosseum to fight for their freedom.

In Lockup: A Roll Player Tale, players command squadrons of captured minions. They must keep their suspicion from the guards under control while hiring the strongest crew and building the most powerful items. The crew with the highest reputation wins the game and a chance to fight for their freedom

Lockup is a worker placement game with elements of bluffing, set collection, resource management, and variable scoring to make sure each game feels different. Collect and play tome cards at the right moment to get the upper hand. Each player's crew has members with different strengths and abilities. Knowing when and where to use each member of the crew is key to success in Kulbak.

Lockup is played over six rounds. Each round is divided into three phases:

ROLL CALL - Players take turns placing their minions in different parts of the Kulbak Prison, some face up showing a unit's strength and some face down, hiding the strength from the other players.

LIGHTS OUT - Each area location on the board is scored based on the strength of each player's crew. Players receive resources and have opportunities to recruit goons and build items.

PATROL PHASE - The game board is prepared for the next round of play. The guards then patrol Kulbak and can call a raid, punishing the players who have attracted the suspicion of the guards in previous turns.

When playing the Solitary Mode of Lockup, the player is isolated in an old wing of the prison. Instead of playing against other players, the player is playing against an automated opponent – the guards.

Each round, the guards are dispatched to different locations of Kulbak, and are slowly revealed, sometimes even calling for reinforcements.

Gain the upper hand on each of the three levels of difficulty in Solitary Mode and score higher than the corrupt guards to secure your position at the top when King Taron arrives.

Want to take a closer look to how Lockup works? Download the beta version of the rulebook!

"This game is outstanding. I really like it.... It's smooth, it plays quick... interesting decisions, nice dynamics.... This is a game that is going to be in my top Kickstarter list at the end of the year, for sure." - Edo

Rahdo Runs Through

"Really really sharp and surprisingly brain-burning." - Richard Ham

Man vs. Meeple

"It's super interesting. I mean the fact that you have to dedicate your force when you place, you can never go back... You really have to think about it.... If you put too much, you wasted it. If you put too little, someone can come in and take that spot away from you." - Ryan Schoon

Tantrum House

"I thought the game was easy to learn. The rulebook was clear and understandable. It was laid out well..... You can definately bluff and play mind games with your crew placement." - Kevin & Melissa

Board Game Revolution

"I have to say, I've had a blast playing this game. Every time you play, your strategy will change, depending on what cards have been placed on the board and what objectives cards have been drawn...." - Tori

Boardgame Spotlight

"So, the bluffing mechanism that Lockup uses with workers in which you can place them face down or face up is really, really thinky. It adds a layer to the game that most worker placements do not have." - Derek Funkhouser

"… the more I played (and I clocked up about 12 games) the more I liked it. It was quick, tactical, frustrating, and thoroughly engaging as a solo worker placement." -- Giles (Blogger, Both Sides of My Table)

The Roll Player Lockup Pack is a set of 6 cards that can be added to the critically acclaimed "Roll Player". The pack includes:

Weapon Card: Ancestral Blade

Scroll Card: Transmute*

Minion Card: Insectoid*

Minion Card: Ratman*

Minion Card: Nightmare*

Minion Card: Flayer*

*Requires the Roll Player: Monsters & Minions Expansion.

Stanislav Kordonskiy was born and raised in Simferopol, Crimea. He came to the U.S. in 1996. Since his teens Stanislav was interested in board games and game design. Besides Lockup he also designed Dice Hospital, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev, and Old West Empresario board games. Stanislav lives with his family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Lucas Ribeiro works as an Illustrator from his home in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He’s created art for advertisement, animation and TV shows, but for the last few years he’s been working almost exclusively with board games. His work can be found in games such as: Roll Player: Monsters & Minions, Space Cantina ,Die,die,DIE! and Tajemnicze Domostwo: motivations.

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Once again, I've had the pleasure to work with Luis Francisco as the graphic designer on this project. In addition to being a great graphic designer (Bullfrogs / Roll Player / Roll Player: Monsters & Minions / Dual Powers) and friend, he's also part of a Brazilian publishing company -- Mandala Jogos. Luis and Mandala is excited to announce that they'll be publishing the Brazilian Portuguese edition of Lockup: A Roll Player Tale for the Brazilian market. So, this Kickstarter does not ship to Brazil, but Brazilian gamers have the opportunity to preorder the Brazilian Portuguese version from Mandala Jogos on their website NOW!

Any pledges to this Kickstarter headed to Brazil will be refunded, so if you're in Brazil and would like to the get a copy of Lockup, please use this preorder link.

This is Thunderworks Games' sixth project funded through Kickstarter. Previous projects have been delivered to backers -- Bullfrogs, Blend Off!, Roll Player, and Roll Player: Monsters & Minions. Dual Powers: Revolution 1917 was funded earlier this year, and is on track to deliver to backers well before the estimated delivery date of Feb 2019.

We plan to deliver this great game to you with good/frequent/honest communication and within a reasonable timeline. Updates come every three weeks, whether there's anything new to communicate or not. I truly believe in this project, and I'd appreciate your support. I am dedicated to transparency throughout this campaign. This game is for you, the gamer.

Let's explore the depths of Kulbak Prison in this fanatic worker-placement game set in the kingdom of Nalos and make Lockup: A Roll Player Tale a reality together.
If you have any advice, comments, questions or just want to say hi, please feel free to contact me through the "Contact me" link under my bio on this page. Or send me an email at keith@thunderworksgames.com.

Backer Benefits!

Upgrade the Game - With each stretch goal reached, the overall quality of the game will improve the overall quality of the game for all gamers.

Be Part of the Journey - Thunderworks games is known for being transparent in the production process. Get exposure to each step of the process from funding to delivery!

Support a Small Publisher - Help a small independent publisher bring great games to life.

Early Access - Backers will be first to get their games. Receive the game before it hits retail.

Risks and challenges

Every project has risks. I've outlined some common areas of risk in boardgame projects and how I've done my best to address them.

> Artwork: All the artwork for the game is complete, with the exception of any images added due to achieving stretch goals or any last minute tweaks before sending the final files off to the manufacturer.

> Component Quality: I've worked with and built a great relationship with one of the best game manufacturers in the world, Panda Game Manufacturing (www.pandagm.com). Their proven track record on games like Eclipse, Terra Mystica, Pandemic, Belfort, and Mice & Mystics, and Roll Player, proves they make great games to a high standard of quality.

> Delivery Timeline: Unexpected delays out of my control can always occur (i.e. component shortage, manufacturer issues, customs delays, etc...). For the production schedule of Lockup, I've used very conservative estimates to account for unknowns and bumps in the road.

> Fulfillment: I have received multiple estimates and plan to work with established fulfillment companies that have proven track records for delivering quickly and efficiently all over the world.

> Sixth Project: Even though this is my sixth Kickstarter project, I have continued to spend endless hours researching Kickstarter as well as participating in many Kickstarters. I have done my best to foresee and minimize any obstacles I've experienced in the past or by studying issues that have been stumbling blocks other creators have run into and how they overcame them.

In addition, in my life outside of this campaign, I have over a decade of project management experience on large-scale software projects. I will continue to leverage that experience and apply it to this project by anticipating issues and sidestepping hurdles that may arise.